


For The Better

by peggys



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Implied/Referenced Cheating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-23
Updated: 2017-08-23
Packaged: 2018-12-19 01:40:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11887227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peggys/pseuds/peggys
Summary: The reader's boyfriend cheats on her and she turns to Steve for consolation.





	For The Better

You turned your key in the door of your tiny Brooklyn apartment—which you shared with your boyfriend of two years, Josh—stepping inside and twirling the keys around your finger before setting them down on the small table next to the door. You shrugged off your jacket, hanging it on one of the hooks on the wall.

“Josh?” You called out, kicking off your shoes and walking through the house to find him. “I’m home!” You decided he must’ve been in the bedroom. You turned your wrist to look at the face of your watch. It was 6:00, so he had gotten home from work about an hour ago. He was probably taking a nap.

You walked over to the closed bedroom door, knocking gently before letting yourself in, only to find Josh in bed. With another woman. His back was turned towards you, and the girl he was with took notice of you and hit his shoulder gently, causing him to stop what he was doing and turn around.

“Shit! (Y/N)!” He shouted, turning around to face you completely, covering this other woman with the blankets.

“What the hell are you doing?!“You weren’t sure if you should feel sad or angry or resentful, but what was going in inside your head was just a mix of every negative emotion your body was capable of feeling all at once. Hot tears threatened to escape your eyes, but you wiped them away before they fell down your cheeks. A thousand thoughts raced through your mind, most of which were about wanting to throw every movable object in the room at your, now ex, boyfriend.

“I thought you weren’t going to be home for another hour!” He yelled, dragging his hands down his face in an effort to make himself come up with a way to make things better, but there was no way to fix this mess he’d gotten himself into.

By now you were crying, and there was no stopping it. He loved you. Or at least you thought he did. All you knew was that you loved him. But maybe you didn’t. You sure as hell didn’t anymore, not after what you just walked in on. All of a sudden you felt gross. And stupid. How long had this been going on? Did this girl know that he was in a relationship? How many women had he been with behind your back? Why the fuck would he do this to you?

“I’m—I’m sorry. I can’t deal with this right now. I’m leaving. I’ll be back for my stuff in a few days.” There was so much more that you wanted to say. You also wanted to take back that apology, because you knew that you shouldn’t be the one saying sorry, but instead, you grabbing a duffle bag from the closet and stuffed it full of essentials—enough clothes to last about a week, your phone charger, a hairbrush, a tootbrush, etc.—and stormed out the door, taking your keys, shoes, and jacket that you had just put down.

Once you got outside your apartment, you leaned your back against the door, trying to take steady breaths to calm yourself down so you could call your best friend Steve.

You hoped he was home as you dug through your pockets and pulled out your phone, unlocking it and tapping the “phone” button, and then his contact. You held the phone up to your ear as it rang—three times to be exact—before he finally picked up.

“(Y/N)! What’s up?” He greeted cheerfully, and you almost debated whether or not you should ask him if you could crash at his place for a little while.

“I’m sorry to even ask this, but could I stay at your place for the next couple days?” More tears rolled silently down your face as you sniffled, still trying to jeep your breathing steady and calm.

“Of course you can. Why? What happened? And are you crying?” He questioned, concern becoming present in his tone.

“Josh is cheating on me. I just walked in on him fucking some other girl and I really don’t want to be here right now.” You choked out, your sobs becoming heavier and uncontrollable.

“Okay, just calm down. I’m only ten minutes away, I’ll come pick you up. Do you want me to stay on the phone until I get there?” He asked in a calm voice.

“Yes, please.” You whined. He stayed on the phone with you until he told you he got there, and you hurried down the stairs. When you spotted his car, it was only about fifteen feet away from the front door to your apartment building. He was standing next to the car, on the sidewalk, his arms opened wide to give you a hug. You walked towards him quickly, your heavy bag in hand, accepting his comforting embrace as you wrapped your arms around his middle, squeezing tightly and trying not to get tears on his shirt.

“(Y/N), I’m so sorry…You don’t deserve to be treated like that. He was an asshole from the start.” Steve said, rubbing his hands up and down your back to soothe you as your body shook with each cry that escaped your throat.

“I’m sorry you have to see me like this…Thank you for picking me up…” You said, pulling away from him as he put his hand on the small of your back, leading you over to his dirty, navy blue 1995 Toyota Camry. He pulled open the door, helping you tuck your bag on the floor, underneath your feet as you sat in the tattered cloth seat.

He walked around to the other side, taking his place in his seat and pulling the car away from the sidewalk, turning down the streets to get to his apartment, just a few minutes away. The ride seemed like an hour instead of ten minutes, with the fog crowding your mind.

You weren’t sure what to think anymore. How could you be so stupid? How could Josh be so stupid? Why didn’t he just break up with you? It was obvious that he didn’t care about you anymore. He didn’t love you. But you didn’t know if you still loved him. You knew you didn’t want to. But it still hurt so bad seeing him with someone else. You forced the thoughts out of your mind as Steve parked his car, stepping out of his door and opening yours for you.

You took your bag in your hand, but Steve, of course, insisted on taking it up for you. You got up to his floor and he put his keys in the door, twisting them and pushing it open, letting you step in before he did, flipping on the lights.

“Thank you for letting me stay here…I’m sorry you have to see me like this.” You said quietly, slipping out of your shoes.

“No, don’t apologize. It’s not your fault that Josh is an absolute douchebag,” He said, kissing your forehead and giving you another hug.

Steve had always been there for you. Since the first day of your freshman year of highschool, he was always around to make you laugh and smile, especially when you needed it most. Although he was a year ahead of you, he was your closest friend. And you had been happier than ever when you discovered you’d be going to the same university. You were now a soft more in college, him a junior, and you were both still the best of friends.

“I just,” you let out a sob, “I feel so fucking stupid. I don’t even know how long this has been happening for. I don’t know how I didn’t see it. He’s been out later, he’s been turning his phone away when he texts people and I just—I don’t know what I did wrong. Was I a bad girlfriend? Am I just repulsive? Did he pity me that much? Is that why he didn’t just break up with me?”

“Hey, stop. Stop that,” Steve gently tilted your chin up to look into your eyes. “I’m sure you were a great girlfriend. And you’re not repulsive…at all. He just obviously couldn’t be grateful for what he had. That breakup was for the better. Don’t let it get to you, okay?”

“Okay…thank you, Steve. It means a lot.”

“No problem, kid. Now, let’s go, we’ll get you settled in.”


End file.
